


The Chocobo Cup (Ignis/Reader)

by Goodnight_kisses



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, I just love Ignis so enjoy this mushy cliche fic, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-17 16:11:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14192754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goodnight_kisses/pseuds/Goodnight_kisses
Summary: You work at the local cafe, The Chocobo Cup, and Ignis is your manager. Although there is undeniable tension between the two of you, can your friends and coworkers intervene and successfully bring the two of you together?Obligatory Coffee Shop AU. It's my first fic, so I hope that you enjoy!





	1. A Rude Awakening

_Emerald green eyes stared directly into your soul. From this distance you could see every detail of his chiseled face. Your breaths were intermingling, lips merely inches apart. He looks away for a moment, glancing down to your intertwined hands. He lets out an airy laugh before looking back into your eyes. There’s a serious expression that had quickly replaced the small smile he was wearing before. Before you had the time to ask him if he was okay, he pressed forward and connected your lips. You closed your eyes and lost yourself in the kiss. You could taste the coffee he drank earlier on his lips. Your hands reached up to card your fingers through his perfectly styled hair. He pressed closer, leaning into your touch. As the kiss deepened, sirens were sounding in the distance._

_Wait._

_Sirens?_

As your eyes fly open, you are quick to sit in an upright position. Your hand clutched the fabric of your shirt right above your heart. With a quick survey of the room, you realized that it was your alarm that had given you the rude awakening from your wonderful dream. You grumbled under your breath, cursing your alarm, getting up to turn it off with reluctance. It was time for work. 

You worked at a popular café in town, The Chocobo Cup, and although you weren’t the biggest fan of some of the customers, you were definitely the biggest fan of the manager: Ignis Scientia. You knew it was highly unprofessional to yearn romantically for your superior, but you couldn’t help it. Your heart was set on the polished, professional, beautiful man. Although he spent most of your shift in the back office, just seeing him every time you came in was enough. He had stolen your heart from the moment you were hired by the owner, Noctis Lucis Caelum. 

Your first day on the job, you had honestly thought that Ignis was the owner. With his air of authority and knack for business, it wasn’t hard to jump to that conclusion. Noctis had taken over the business once his father had passed away. Although he was still young and inexperienced, Noctis worked hard to keep the business at the same standard that his father did. He took Ignis’ opinion very seriously. It was almost as if he was treating Ignis as his business advisor. 

Thoughts of Ignis had continued through your head as you got ready for work. As you buttoned up the last button on your work shirt, you were quick to leave your apartment and head down the street to the café. Besides the decent pay and the gorgeous manager, another perk to your job was the fact that it was so close to where you lived. You never had to worry about being late. 

The sun was just peaking up behind the buildings of Insomnia. It was still too early for many pedestrians to be out and about. Being close to fall, there was a slight chill in the air that made you shiver in your short-sleeved shirt. This brisk weather caused you to pick up the pace, wanting to step into the welcoming warmth of The Chocobo Cup. As you turned the corner of the street, you saw Ignis at the front door, fiddling with his keys. Although your heart skipped a few beats at the sight of him, you kept your composure and put a professional smile on your face before calling out a good morning. 

As he stuck the key in the lock, he turned to you and nodded politely. Unbeknownst to you, Ignis’ heart also began to race at the sight of you. 

“Good morning, (Y/N). How are you doing this morning?” 

He opened the door for you, making your smile grow a bit. As you walked into the building, grabbing an apron from the back and setting up shop, your small talk continued. You knew that you were early, but it was small moments with Ignis in the morning that made the small loss of sleep incredibly worthwhile. Although your relationship remained completely professional, there was something calming and pleasing about his presence. After a lull in conversation between the two of you, the door was thrown open by your excitable co-worker, Prompto. 

His bright smile on his freckled face seemed to bring in the reality of the morning to you. He gave an excitable greeting to the both of you. Much to your disappointment, as Prompto joined in on the morning set-up, Ignis retreated to the office in the back. Without realizing it, you had let out a small sigh due to his absence. 

“Still longing after Iggy, huh? I love you but I’m getting sick of the goo-goo eyes you give him every time you’re here!” 

“Prompto! Shush! I’m not ‘longing’ after anyone,” but your franticly diverting eyes told a different story. 

“Oh my god you’re crushing hard on him. Why haven’t you made a move yet, (Y/N)?” 

“What! He’s our boss! It would be completely unprofessional and inappropriate to ‘make a move’ on him. Come on, Prompt, we still have a lot of work to do and the shop opens in ten minutes.” 

Unbeknownst to you, Prompto was plotting something, and he wasn’t the only one who had noticed the romantic tension between you and Iggy. Noctis had also noticed Ignis’ odd behavior around you. The two bros had made it their mission to make something happen between the two of you, the sooner the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave feedback! I should have the next chapter up sometime soon.


	2. Confusion over Coffee

“You want me to what?”

Gladiolus quirked up an eyebrow at Noctis, an amused smile tugging up the corners of his mouth.

Sighing, Noctis repeated, “I want you to come into the coffee shop and hit on (Y/N) to make Ignis jealous.”

Gladio, trying his best to contain his laughter, nodded at his friend.

“Alright. I think I can manage flirting with a pretty girl like (Y/N). Do you really think that’ll work?”

Noctis shrugged, looking a bit disappointed. He truly didn’t know. All he knew was that he was sick of seeing Ignis look like a love-sick puppy when (Y/N) wasn’t looking and vice versa.

“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. I don’t think I’ve really ever seen Ignis interested someone before. Shouldn’t we do whatever we can to ensure that he ends up with her?”

Gladio flashed his winning smile at Noctis.

“You’re right. The guy works too hard, and I think he deserves to take it easy and get a happy ending for once.”

With that conversation out of the way, plans were set into motion.

* * *

The morning rush came and went in a hectic flurry at the coffee shop, as per usual. Thankfully, you and Prompto made a good team. He was the bubbly excitable face that the grumpy customers were greeted with, and you were skilled at all the complex orders the business people liked to throw at you. However, after the rush died down, you and Prompto always switched roles. You knew how exhausting it was to play nice with some of the customers.

Due to the lull in customers at the cusp of the afternoon, you and Prompto were casually wiping down counters, sweeping, and doing anything that made you look productive.

When the bell chimed, you glanced up as you tossed the towel you were cleaning with onto your shoulder.

In the doorway stood Gladiolus, one of your favorite customers. As a friend of Noctis and Ignis he was a regular at The Chocobo Cup, which was absolutely fine with you. Besides being nice to look at (though not as nice to look at as Ignis), Gladio was also very friendly and a good tipper. You wouldn’t say he was your favorite customer, but you wouldn’t disregard him as a contender for that title either.

“Good morning Gladiolus! Welcome to The Chocobo Cup!”

“(Y/N) I’m here practically every other day. You don’t have to use that lame customer service greeting on me.”

You both exchanged a cheeky grin as he approached the register.

“You’re right, Gladio. Next time when you walk in I’ll just tell you to get the heck out of here.”

He feigned shock at your statement, making you giggle a little bit.

Prompto, who was still sweeping in the corner, was looking at Gladio curiously. Gladio in return winked at Prompto, hoping he would get the message.

“So (Y/N), is Iggy around? I gotta talk to him.”

“Huh? Oh, yes, he should be in the back office. I’ll go get him for you.”

Prompto immediately jumped into action. He was next to you in the blink of an eye, placing his hand on your shoulder.

“(Y/N) there’s no need to do that! I’ll go get Iggy! You stay here and take Gladio’s order, okay?”

You slowly raised an eyebrow at prompt as you nodded. You were confused at his behavior, but you didn’t have time to process it or say anything because Gladiolus started giving you his coffee order as Prompto disappeared into the back.

“I’d like a large white chocolate mocha, with a shot of espresso, a pump of hazelnut, and whipped cream on top, please.”

You couldn’t help but snicker at his order. Smiling as you rung him up, you teased, “I swear Gladio, you’re almost as bad as the rich women who come in here and give me their convoluted orders.”

Instead of the witty retort that you were expecting, Gladio simply stated, “You know, you’re gorgeous when you smile. You've got a cute laugh too.”

Uh-oh. Your face immediately blossomed into an expression of embarrassment. Your cheeks filled with color as you quickly turned to go make his order. So wrapped up in your flustered state, you failed to see that Ignis and Prompto had returned. Ignis did not look happy, but only those who knew him well could read his miniscule expression.

“Iggy! Hey bro! Its good to see you.” Gladio greeted Ignis, pretending like he didn’t just hit on the woman he was (un-admittedly) infatuated with.

You tuned out their chatter as you focused on the task at hand. When the drink was made, you returned to the front counter to hand it to Gladiolus. You were still embarrassed, so you were unable to meet his gaze as you extended your hand to him.

He gently took the cup out of your hand. You thought that would be the end of the interaction, but you were sorely mistaken.

“Thanks again, gorgeous.”

You immediately glanced up and locked eyes with him. He was giving you a dazzling smile, and that confused you.

You didn’t know how to respond in a situation like this. Beautiful men like Gladiolus never flirted with you. To say that you were shaken by this turn of events was an understatement.

“Y-you’re welcome, Gladiolus.”

With the end of that exchange, Gladio and Ignis stepped outside to chat. You turned to Prompto who seemed to be trying to hid a satisfied smirk.

“Did you have something to do with that, Prompto? Because I swear if you got Gladio to flirt with me as a joke I will wring your thr-“

“Nope! I had nothing to do with that one! Promise!”

You nodded, not knowing what else to say. 

What the heck was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the super sweet comments on the first chapter! It made my heart all warm and fuzzy. Feel free to continue to leave feedback!


	3. A Latte Trouble

“Gladio, pray tell, what was that about?”

Ignis and Gladiolus had stepped outside and began strolling around the block as they chatted with one another.

Gladio decided to play dumb and asked, “What was what about?”

“Flirting with my employee while she was working. I find that to be quite uncouth of you.”

“Aw, Iggy, I didn’t mean any harm by it. Plus, don’t you agree that she’s adorable when she’s embarrassed?”

In return, Ignis shot Gladio a stern, pointed look.

Refusing to acknowledge Gladio’s question, Ignis opted to respond, “Please refrain from flirting with my employees in the future.”

“C’mon Iggy, you don’t have to lie about not being jealous.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Gladio. I have no reason to be jealous. (Y/N) is my employee.”

Gladiolus sighed. Getting Ignis to admit his feelings may be harder to do than the chocobros originally thought.

* * *

 

A few weeks had gone by since that encounter with Gladio, and in that time you had a few similar exchanges with him. You had noticed that Ignis had become more closed off and formal with you since then. Mornings that were once filled with pleasantries were now quiet. You knew that your relationship was one of a dynamic of manager/employee, but Ignis had often shown you the warmth and familiarity of a friend. However, as the weather began to chill, so did Ignis’ demeanor. Although you tried to reason with yourself that it wasn’t your fault and he was probably just having a rough time, you felt incredibly discouraged. It had started showing in your work.

One day Noctis had swung by the café towards the end of your shift. Although it was his day off, it wasn’t unusual for Noctis to come by to check up on the place. However, what was unusual was the fact that you had the night shift today.

“Good evening, Mr. Caelum! How are you?”

“(Y/N), please, how many times to I have to ask you to call me Noctis?”

“Sorry, Noctis. It’s a force of habit.”

The Chocobo Cup was empty due to it being so close to closing time. The only people in the cafe were you, Noctis, and Ignis. You continued wiping down tables as Noctis stood there lost in thought. After a few beats, you decided to break the silence.

“A Gil for your thoughts?”

As if somewhat startled, Noctis looked up at you with wide eyes.

“Ah, it’s nothing. It’s just..” He trailed off, letting out a sigh before continuing, “(Y/N), are you happy working here?”

“What!? Of course I am! What makes you say that? Have...have I not been working hard enough? I promise I can do better I ca-“

Noctis chuckled fondly. “No, no (Y/N). It’s nothing like that. You just seem less chipper than usual is all.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry. I, uh, didn’t realize my mood was impacting my work so much.”

“(Y/N), why don’t you go on and head home? It’s been a long day for you, I’m sure. Ignis and I can finish cleaning up here.”

The call of a warm bed and sweet dreams of Ignis after a long shift and an even longer week was too tempting of an offer to deny. Thanking Noctis for his kindness, you quickly took off your apron, gathered your things, and headed out.

Not even a few moments after you left, Ignis had emerged from the office in the back. He scanned the room, looking quite confused at your absence until his eyes landed on Noctis.

“Come and sit with me, Ignis. I think we need to talk.”

He knew where this was going. For the past few weeks it seemed as everyone was cornering him to talk to him about (Y/N). Ignis was a patient man, but by this point his patience was running thin. He resigned himself to sit across from Noctis. The sooner the conversation started, the sooner it would end.

As he sat down, he let out a small, frustrated sigh. Locking eyes with Noctis, he gave him a small nod as a sign to start the conversation.

“Look, Ignis. You’ve always been a friend and an advisor to me. I’ve always held you to a high esteem, but you’re being ridiculous. Everyone can see that you like (Y/N). She’ll never make that jump. She’s too afraid to ruin the work environment, so please just do what you need to do. Tell her how you feel about her.”

Ignis didn’t know what it was about Noctis’ spiel that finally made him snap. Maybe it was because he didn’t get much sleep last night, or the fact that it was a long day. Maybe it was the fact that everyone around him was infuriatingly right about his feelings for (Y/N) that he kept pushing away. Whatever it was, Ignis stood up, looking absolutely defensive.

“Noctis, I don’t know what you’re going on about! I do not have any romantic feelings for (Y/N), nor do I have any inclination to see her in that light! She works for us! She’s my subordinate, my employee. Nothing more and nothing less. Now can we please put this silly pestering to rest?”

Ignis had been standing with his back to the door. He didn’t realize that you had come back in until you dropped your keys and it made an echoing clank on the floor, breaking the silence. Ignis turned to you, looking fearful.

His fears were confirmed when he saw you biting your lip to keep it from wobbling, tears pooling in your eyes. You quickly averted your gaze the floor, bending down to pick up the keys that had shattered the silence after your heart had shattered at Ignis’ words.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on your private conversation. I just left my keys and jacket here. I’ll leave the two of you alone now.”

Your voice was airy and shaking as you spoke. You had always known that Ignis could never see you the way you saw him, but your heart had always clung to the hope that maybe you were wrong. You felt so foolish in that moment. Without even bothering to say goodbye, you turned around and left the café, letting the door slam behind you.

Ignis stood there absolutely speechless. He watched as you crossed the street and quickly walked out of sight of the café. His heart had dropped to his stomach. He took off his glasses and rubbed his hand over his face as he let out an uncharacteristic groan.

“Noctis, what have I done?”

“Well, Iggy…you messed up really badly.”

“Ah, I was afraid you’d say that. Do you think there’s any possible way to make it up to her and make her realize that I’ve been a fool who’s been lying to myself and everyone around me?”

Noctis chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. He calmly spoke, “Come on Iggy, lets have a cup of coffee and discuss your next steps, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah I'm sorry for the angsty chapter! I promise that I'll make it up to y'all soon! Again I want to thank y'all for the kind comments, the kudos, and the encouragement. I'll start on the next chapter as soon as I'm able! I don't want to keep my dear readers heartbroken for too long!


	4. I Love You a Latte

You knew it was childish, but you couldn’t help but going off the grid for a few days. You had the weekend off, so you did what any sane adult who got inadvertently rejected by the love of their life would do: you hid in your bedroom, watched cheesy rom-coms, and only left your room to get food. You dreaded the impending Monday when you would have to return to work.

You had spent the entirety of your days off ignoring texts from Prompto and Noctis, and instead focused on mentally preparing and coaching yourself for the awkward tension that would undoubtedly arise between you and Ignis at work. On Monday morning, those thoughts came back to you as you buttoned up your uniform and headed out of your apartment.

The walk to The Chocobo Cup felt grim. It was the type of grim that even Prompto’s winning smile wouldn’t be able to brighten your mood. You’d have to fake it, and it would be your best performance yet. As per usual, as you neared the café, Ignis was unlocking the door. However, today you didn’t call out to him. As he saw you approach, he looked nervous.

“(Y/n)! G-good morning. How was your weekend off?”

You gave him a non-committal smile, one that obviously didn’t reach your eyes.

“It was nice. I caught up on some much needed sleep.”

“Is that so?” Ignis’ hand was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke to you. “I suppose that makes sense considering that you’re always here so early.”

An awkward silence fell between the two of you. When Ignis realized the conversation was over, he opened the door and let you into the café. You could cut the tension with a knife. Prompto, who was often not good at reading the room could immediately feel the tension. He immediately came up to you and took you into his arms, hoping to comfort you with his embrace.

Ignis got a bit red in the face when witnessing this exchange. He wasn’t sure if it was out of embarrassment or out of jealousy. Oh, who was he kidding? It was jealousy. He needed to stop denying his feelings for you, or else any hope of winning you back would shrivel up and die. He walked into his office, knowing that if he stayed he would snap again.

“Are you okay, (Y/n)? You didn’t answer any of my texts this weekend.” You didn’t trust your voice, so you just shook your head in response.

“Come on, let me see that winning customer service smile you always wear!”

You backed up from Prompto and gave him the most convincing smile you could muster up at that moment. In return, you got a soft sigh and an encouraging smile from him.

“C’mon (Y/n), we’ve got work to do!”

* * *

 

It was a long and tedious day. In all honesty, you couldn’t wait until you got off your shift in the afternoon and spent the rest of your night hiding under your covers.

Those hopes and dreams were crushed though when Noctis came in and asked you to work until closing. Noctis, being too nice to say no to, roped you into agreeing. Which meant at the bare minimum you would be doubling your time at work that day. However, ever the fair boss that he was, he gave you a two-hour gap between your shifts, which you spent caffeinating yourself as you sat at a small table by the window.

When you returned to work, you regretted saying yes to Noctis. You were the only one working in the evening, and the café was practically dead. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the conditions also left you hyper aware of your unrequited affections in the room behind you. It put you very on-edge.

About 15 minutes before closing, a man came in for his late-night fix. Although this annoyed you to no end, you played your part as the happy-go-lucky barista and took his order. You had hoped this would be the end of the transaction, but the man seemed unhappy with his order. He started screaming at you for your incompetency, which would usually roll off of you, but it made you dissolve into a panic today.

“Hey! Are you listening to me, you stupid bitch!? I said that I want a new latte and a refund!”

“I-I’m sorry, sir. I’ll just have to get the manager, if you’ll excuse me.”

As you took a step away from the counter, the man reached over and grabbed your wrist, pulling you harshly closer to him. His grip was so hard you were sure it would leave bruises. You softly cried out, trying to get out of his grip.

“Don’t you walk away from me when I’m talking to you! Don’t you know who I am!?”

“By the way you’re treating this nice young lady, I’m going to say that you’re nothing but a, well, dick.”

Ignis, always light-footed as ever, snuck up behind the two of you. Even if you weren’t in the middle of a minor panic attack, you’re sure that you wouldn’t have heard him approach.

“Is that anyway to talk to a customer, huh!?”

“With all due respect, sir, we do not seek business with those who do not treat our employees with respect. Now, unhand her and leave before I have to take further action.”

“Oh, you don’t like the way I’m talking to your bitch, huh!? Well, too bad I’m gonna tal-”

The man had no chance to finish his question. Ignis had jumped across the counter and tackled the man to the ground. He was holding the man’s shirt collar, looking angry as hell.

“Don’t you ever, EVER, speak to her like that! I should break your hands for touching her and your jaw for speaking to her in such a manner!”

“Ignis! Let him go, he’s not worth it!”

You had recovered from your momentary shock to run up behind him and put your hand on his shoulder. As he turned to look at you, his gaze softened. You had never seen him show such clear, vivid, intense emotion like this before. He was usually so reserved. Your heart began to race again.

Ignis stood up and brushed himself off before, ahem, escorting the man off premise. He locked the door before turning back to you. His eyes scanned you, trying to determine whether or not you were alright.

“T-thank you, Ignis. You didn’t have to go through all of that trouble for me, y’know.”

“Oh, (y/n),” he sighed affectionately. “Don’t you understand? If you hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve turned that man into a bloody pulp for even daring to disrespect you.”

Your eyes widen at his small confession. Your damned heart felt light and fluttery, despite you knowing that you shouldn’t get your hopes up. You averted your gaze before speaking again.

“Oh, I see.”

You heard his footsteps approach you slowly. Suddenly, a leather-clad hand slowly lifted your chin up. He stared deep into your eyes with a quiet intensity that took your breath away.

“(Y/n), I’ve been meaning to talk to you for some time. You’ll have to forgive me, as I am not quite experienced with directly expressing how I feel. I know what you heard when I was speaking to Noctis, but I need you to know that what I said was untrue. I misspoke in a defensive outrage, because it seemed that everyone knew how I felt about you before I knew it myself.”

“Ignis?”

“I’m in love with you, but I was too much of a coward to face my feelings. I wanted things to remain professional because I was uncertain about how you felt about me. However, I can’t seem to bring myself to care right now, because I’m fairly certain you _do_ feel the same.”

“Ignis…I…yes, I’m in love with you too. It broke my heart when I heard you say that you would never see me as anything more than an employee.”

“Oh, (y/n), you’ve always been so much more to me. You truly never noticed how flustered you make me?”

You giggled at his statement, “I just assumed that was you being your usual reserved self.”

Your eyes connected again as your laughter died out. Seizing the opportunity, Ignis surged forward, gently pressing his lips against yours. Your eyes slowly closed as you lost yourself in the kiss, your hands wrapping themselves around his waist.

After a moment, you broke apart. Ignis was smiling down at you, the most dazzling expression you ever had the honor to see on his face.

“So much better than I dreamed of…”

“You dreamed of kissing me? Oh gods, well at least that makes me feel less foolish about doing the same.”

Ignis’ statement gave you a burst of confidence, so you leaned forward and brought him into another kiss.

Apparently there were more perks to working at The Chocobo Cup than you originally thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that it took so long for me to write the final chapter. It was a busy week! However, I hope that you enjoy how the fic ends. I would love feedback and perhaps requests for future fics!


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